Night Drive
by ohmmeter
Summary: Athrun drives Cagalli home one starry night. AxC


**Night Drive**_  
fanfiction by omi_

Disclaimer: Gundam Seed / Destiny owned by BANDAI  
Post GSD (I think :D )

_Happy birthday to Kira and Cagalli!_

* * *

A simple turn of the key brings the engine back to life. He shifts to a more comfortable position. The smell of freshly baked donuts tickles his nostrils, reminding him he hadn't had the chance to eat dinner yet. He watches her from the corner of his eye and sees the hint of displeasure still evident in her face.

"You know better than to wander off the streets at this hour." No response. His hand trails the glossy exterior of the radio and nimbly turns it on. The dj will play her favorite music; he hopes it would be enough for her to forgive him.

Anticipating his move, she reaches out to stop him. The light blinks red in the distance.

"Athrun, let's talk."

Scarlet rays spill on her hair, her eyes, her soft skin. She smiles. Not the carefree, clumsy smile he misses. He releases the handbrake and steps on the gas.

"How are you?"

"Tired," he frowns, "and very busy." She opens her package wrapped in a neat paper bag and takes a small bite. He changes gear before continuing.

"I never knew handling new recruits could be so trying. I clearly recall I wasn't as troublesome to deserve this kind of karma."

"Let me guess, you were worse?" He grunts in reply. She laughs and holds a torn piece of the sweet treat near his scowling mouth. He tilts his head slightly to accept without looking away from the road.

Her fingers linger longer than necessary and place soft, feather-light touches subtly tracing his thin lips. He responds by slowly licking and savoring the sweetness from her fingertips sending shivers down her spine.

"A-Athrun,"

"Mm?"

"Stop light." He looks up to find the traffic light red.

Careless. He sighs in relief thankful for his quick reflexes. It wouldn't do to be too distracted. He shifts to first gear as soon as the light goes green.

--

Half lidded amber orbs watch him. Now, she no longer cares he dragged her away from her occasional night walks around town, au contraire, she's actually happy he did. She thinks it's unfair how he can pacify her simply by being there.

The gentle breeze caressing her bare shoulders lulls her to sleep. She silently panics upon noticing how she almost did. She doesn't want to, can't afford to fall asleep. It's been far too long since the last time they were together. They've been too occupied with each of their duties; they can't be too indulgent with their time.

But this familiar sense of comfort coaxes her otherwise.

"Sleep. I'll wake you up when we arrive."

She mumbles a quick no and promptly straightens up before continuing.

"Everybody's still restless. It's been months since the war ended, yet there's still struggle to maintain peace. Peace we all worked hard for." Peace, the reason they're able to drive out together on a starry night like tonight, yet the same reason they couldn't do so sooner.

A faraway look settles in her features. Suddenly the tiring day seems to catch up. He continues driving, and she continues to watch him her swirling emotions running faster than she could narrate. He slows down for another stop.

He takes this chance to capture her turbulent gaze in his and leans closer to give a chaste kiss on her forehead finally ending her random ramblings.

"I'll watch the world while you sleep."

Something about his emerald eyes makes her want to believe fully in his words. And she did, finally allowing herself to fall asleep.

--

It's his turn to watch, a few moments of selfishness, seeing her serene face and hearing her steady breathing against his shoulder. He was extra careful, once she fell into slumber, when driving over humps and potholes before pulling over a curb, the manor seen from a distance.

Cagalli used to be a heavy sleeper, a habit she slowly grew out of when paper work starts piling and meetings increasing.

The happy ringing of Yaiba's theme song disturbs his watch. He reluctantly answers the call to be greeted by a very anxious brother on the other line. He frowned when he saw Cagalli stir. From what she could catch from their conversation, they were looking for her.

She leans once more against his shoulder when her companion returned his phone to his pocket.

"Kira angry?"

"Very," He sighs. "Told me to inform someone next time we go out for a drive."

For a moment it feels like they were lovers sneaking out on a date, ordinary teenagers scolded for missing their curfew. If only for tonight she'd like to believe so.

"Let's get you home, I have enough people after me for keeping you here," _longer than necessary_. He looks at her with longing, memorizing as much detail as he could. He wasn't sure when he'll be able to see her again.

She frowns as she turned to face him. She, also, didn't want the starry night to end so soon.

"Athru-"

Their breaths meet halfway, lips sealing for a hungry kiss.

He could still taste, smell the vanilla cream from the donut they shared earlier.

* * *

http : / en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Yaiba Disclaimer part 2: I don't own Yaiba either. In case anybody wonders, it's the ending song :D _cogi cogi cogi cogi cogi cogi cogi cogito_ :D

**Author's Notes:  
**Would anyone believe I started writing this 2 years ago haha. Just didn't have the heart to release it without doing proper justice. I was adding a couple of lines here and there for the past two years, the reason for the messed up grammar :D. I started with present tense then along the way it got mixed up with present progressive then at some point there were past verb entries and from there everything just became confusing (and I gave up trying to fix it). I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing. :)

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